Childress purchased what was then known as Sapona Country Club last August and renamed it Sapona Ridge Country Club. Changes have been made over the last several months, starting with the naming of Bob Esworthy as general manager.

The most ambitious project to date was making adjustments to the par-71, 6,620-yard course layout, with course superintendent Keith McKenzie at the vanguard of those efforts.

"I'm really proud of it," Childress said. "We've changed a lot of things. Bob Esworthy and Keith McKenzie, you can't say enough about what Keith and his group have done. We're just proud for the whole Davidson County ... the whole community, Forsyth, everybody that comes over and joins the club. I want it back like it was in the early 90s when I was a member. We've added a lot of signage, cleared some trees. We've cut over 200 trees. We've still got more to do. We redid the tennis courts, the swimming pool. We just changed a whole lot.

"This is their country club. If you're a member, it's your country club. I want you to be proud of it."

Childress is certainly proud of Richard Childress Racing, which won six NASCAR Sprint Cup championships with the late Dale Earnhardt and a slew of other championships in the Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series. RCR has a good chance of landing two of its three Sprint Cup cars in the Chase, with Kevin Harvick currently in fourth place and Paul Menard in 12th.

"It's good," Childress said. "We put ourselves out of a couple of good finishes. But all in all, the cars are all being competitive."

Most of the course work, which started May 20, involved converting the greens to Diamond Zoysia, which is a fine textured, vegetatively propagated, warm season variety with excellent tolerance to low light conditions, salty soils and high traffic. Several of the greens were recontoured.

"We've taken several of the false fronts off the greens that were there before and shortened some of the greens a little bit," said Jody Groce, head pro at Sapona Ridge. "Other than that, we've got all new signage. The golf course is in fantastic shape after being closed for a couple of months."

In addition to the regular club tournaments and other member activities, Sapona Ridge has hosted several U.S. Women's Amateur qualifiers and is a regular stop for the eGolf Professional Tour, which had to skip Davidson County this year due to the renovations.

"We missed it this year," Groce said. "They usually have it in the month of June. But we should have them back out here next year."

Other members teed off right after Childress and his group began play.

It didn't take long for the good times to roll as Ken Michael sank a long putt on the second hole.

"Ain't these greens good?" Childress said.

Mike Duprez can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 218 or mike.duprez@the-dispatch.com.

<p>Richard Childress pulled up his golf cart, pulled out a driver and in a relaxed manner got ready to tee off at the No. 1 hole on his golf course, the newly refurbished Sapona Ridge Country Club.</p><p>It was a moment two months in the making.</p><p>"We're real excited," Childress said as several members and country club employees looked on. "We've got a lot of things we're going to do here."</p><p>Childress, more famously known as owner of one of NASCAR's historically great racing teams, then drove his tee shot right down the middle of the fairway at 9 a.m., officially rechristening the course.</p><p>"Good shot!" said longtime Sapona Ridge member Marvin Sandifer. "Captain's choice."</p><p>Childress purchased what was then known as Sapona Country Club last August and renamed it Sapona Ridge Country Club. Changes have been made over the last several months, starting with the naming of Bob Esworthy as general manager.</p><p>The most ambitious project to date was making adjustments to the par-71, 6,620-yard course layout, with course superintendent Keith McKenzie at the vanguard of those efforts.</p><p>"I'm really proud of it," Childress said. "We've changed a lot of things. Bob Esworthy and Keith McKenzie, you can't say enough about what Keith and his group have done. We're just proud for the whole Davidson County ... the whole community, Forsyth, everybody that comes over and joins the club. I want it back like it was in the early 90s when I was a member. We've added a lot of signage, cleared some trees. We've cut over 200 trees. We've still got more to do. We redid the tennis courts, the swimming pool. We just changed a whole lot.</p><p>"This is their country club. If you're a member, it's your country club. I want you to be proud of it."</p><p>Childress is certainly proud of Richard Childress Racing, which won six NASCAR Sprint Cup championships with the late Dale Earnhardt and a slew of other championships in the Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series. RCR has a good chance of landing two of its three Sprint Cup cars in the Chase, with Kevin Harvick currently in fourth place and Paul Menard in 12th.</p><p>"It's good," Childress said. "We put ourselves out of a couple of good finishes. But all in all, the cars are all being competitive."</p><p>Most of the course work, which started May 20, involved converting the greens to Diamond Zoysia, which is a fine textured, vegetatively propagated, warm season variety with excellent tolerance to low light conditions, salty soils and high traffic. Several of the greens were recontoured.</p><p>"We've taken several of the false fronts off the greens that were there before and shortened some of the greens a little bit," said Jody Groce, head pro at Sapona Ridge. "Other than that, we've got all new signage. The golf course is in fantastic shape after being closed for a couple of months."</p><p>In addition to the regular club tournaments and other member activities, Sapona Ridge has hosted several U.S. Women's Amateur qualifiers and is a regular stop for the eGolf Professional Tour, which had to skip Davidson County this year due to the renovations.</p><p>"We missed it this year," Groce said. "They usually have it in the month of June. But we should have them back out here next year."</p><p>Other members teed off right after Childress and his group began play.</p><p>It didn't take long for the good times to roll as Ken Michael sank a long putt on the second hole.</p><p>"Ain't these greens good?" Childress said.</p><p>Mike Duprez can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 218 or mike.duprez@the-dispatch.com.</p>